The Kerala Congress (B) has reiterated its demand for the re-induction of its nominee, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, in the Chandy Cabinet.
The party’s demand was placed before Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday by its general secretary Venugopalan Nair, who acted as an emissary of Kerala Congress (B) chairman R. Balakrishna Pillai.
According to sources, the Chief Minister promised to take up the matter after the problems in the Congress were resolved.
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Mr. Ganesh Kumar had resigned as Forest Minister after his wife, Yamini Thankachi, filed a case against him under the Domestic Violence Act.
Father-son row
The KC(B) had demanded his removal for more than 18 months prior to that citing Mr. Ganesh Kumar’s alleged failure to toe the party line. Several rounds of discussions were held between the Congress leaders and KC(B) chairman Mr. Balakrishna Pillai to sort out the issue.
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Later, the father and son duo sorted out their differences, with the support of the Nair Service Society, leading to Mr. Pillai submitting in writing to the Chief Minister a couple of weeks ago his party’s decision to re-nominate Mr. Ganesh Kumar as Minister.
However, the Congress then got entangled in problems related to the induction of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala into the Cabinet.
Mr. Chandy had earlier promised to fill the vacancy created by Mr. Ganesh Kumar’s resignation well ahead of the Assembly session. But currently, the reshuffle appears unlikely at least when the House is in session.
Pillai’s contention
Mr. Pillai’s main contention is that there was no bar against Mr. Ganesh Kumar’s re-induction.
There were several instances of Ministers who had resigned following cases against them, returning to office after they were cleared.
Mr. Pillai also has demanded the Cabinet berth that had been allotted to his party as a partner in the United Democratic Front.